


Affection

by yuzu1207



Category: Figure Skating RPF, Olympics RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: M/M, figure skating
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 10:13:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6466312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuzu1207/pseuds/yuzu1207
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuzuru is exhausted after winning the Olympics. An unexpected encounter with the silver medalist leads to a series of unforeseen events, and everything changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Affection

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first English fanfic which I started because I was kinda bored. Hope you like it :P

The gold medal felt heavy around his neck as he left his coach’s room after thanking him for the last time. Exhaustion was getting to him and now he could finally go back to his own room.

 

He had only become the Olympic Champion for 15 hours now, but he could swear that he was already the busiest man alive. He had expected to be able to return to the Olympic village after the press conference, but no, suddenly all the news programs and television shows seemed to want the young teen on their show to answer endless questions on his performance and his road to glory.

 

And the honest answer was, he was ashamed. Ashamed of the rare fall on the triple flip. And on that god damned quad sal. Ashamed of how he gave the media a reason to question his gold medal. And they had every right to do so after that disgusting performance. He could already see the headlines for tomorrow’s newspaper: “Hanyu beats Chan and wins gold despite two tragic falls”. Just thinking about his free skate made his face hotter with anger.

 

Not to mention all the questions they asked him about the earthquake. Of course, he was planning to donate all the prize money towards the victims of the 2011 disaster, but he really preferred that the reporters didn’t link every victory with the incident. Sometimes, he didn’t feel like representing the stricken areas. Sometimes, he didn’t want to feel the burden of carrying the hopes of thousands of people who gained courage from his achievements. But mainly, he didn’t want the memories. The memories that flooded back into his mind every time he was forced to reflect on his experiences during interviews. He was almost certain that he would wake up from a nightmare tonight with a blood-curling scream, relieved that the moisture plastered on his body was sweat, and not the seawater that entered the edges of his hometown.

 

Yuzuru shivered as he forced the images out of his mind, cursing silently for letting his mind wander back to that day. He could feel his heart dropping and his breath becoming shallower just from the mere thought.

 

He muffled a cough in his scarf and recognized the familiar, unwelcoming feeling in his chest and throat. _Oh great, not now,_ he thought to himself as he tightened the coat around him and increased his speed down the hallway of the Olympic village. If his instincts were right, he was about to have an asthma attack and his inhaler was in his dorm room, still another good 10-minute walk from the Canadian dorms, where he was now. He unconsciously put a hand on the wall to support himself as he tried to quicken his pace further, focusing on taking deep breaths to steady his breathing. He turned a corner, only to walk straight into someone’s chest.

 

“Woah… Hey.”

 

Yuzuru looked up and saw the Canadian Olympic silver medalist, Patrick Chan. _Oh, even better,_ thought Yuzuru. He certainly did not want to show his weak side by having an attack in front of someone, especially not Patrick Chan, the guy he just proved that he was better than. And who probably really hated his guts.

 

Yuzuru and Patrick were always taken up as rivals by the media, their scores and techniques often compared. Patrick had always smiled to him in front of the cameras, but once they were backstage, the warm expression would quickly be replaced with a cold, piercing one that made Yuzuru feel like cringing. During ice shows and competitions, Yuzuru would always smile politely whenever their eyes met, but Patrick would look away, with that same cold expression. Not like winning Patrick at the Olympics despite his not-so-perfect performance made things a little less awkward. Yuzuru had always had the feeling that Patrick really hated him. Which was why running into him of all people really made Yuzuru doubt his luck.

 

“I… I’m sorry…” Still breathing heavily, Yuzuru stepped aside to let Patrick pass. He needed to get to his inhaler quickly to prevent his attack from getting anymore serious, especially under the eyes of Patrick. He needed to leave. Now. But after only a few steps, he broke into a series of coughs which made him stop and put his hand back on the wall for support.

 

“Hey… you okay?”

 

He thought he heard Patrick’s voice in the distance, but that didn’t matter anymore. His coughs were becoming unbearable and he was actually having trouble with his breathing now.

 

_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…_

 

He squatted on the spot and gripped hard on the fabric of his shirt at his chest. His throat burned and his entire body ached for air, desperately gasping to take in the oxygen. He could feel tears collecting his eyes as he wheezed, too panicked to notice the big warm hand rubbing his back.

 

“Hey, shh… it’s okay. Calm down, now, uh, everything’s okay.”

 

The hand on his back slowly guided him into a sitting position, the calm voice still continuing to whisper comforting words soothingly into his ear.

 

“Shh… come on, mimic my breathing. Breathe in… now, breathe out…”

 

Yuzuru desperately tried to concentrate on the sound of the air rushing in and out of the man crouched next to him, copying the movement of the man’s chest as it expanded and caved in with a deep, steady rhythm.

 

Strangely, his body listened and relaxed to the man’s words. Soon enough, his wheezing went back to gasping, which slowed down to heavy panting, and eventually, Yuzuru found himself taking deep, regular breaths.

 

“Where’s your inhaler? In your room?”

 

He nodded weakly, the exhaustion of the attack getting to him, making him unable to speak. He thought he heard the man’s footsteps leave him, but the man hesitated, and came to back to where he was. A sigh. And the sound of someone taking something out of a pocket. An iPhone getting unlocked.

 

“Hello? Is this Tatsuki? This is Patrick…”

 

_Patrick?!_

 

Yuzuru jerked his head up and regretted the action almost immediately, the sudden movement making him break into another series of light coughs, which led to Patrick eying him cautiously.

 

 _What in the world just happened…_ Yuzuru felt blood rushing into his cheeks as he finally regained his calm and started analyzing the situation. _Oh God. Did he really just do that in front of Patrick?_

 

The longer he waited for Patrick to finish the call, the more awkward and embarrassed he felt. He buried his face in his hands, thinking about what to say when Patrick finished the call. He wiped off the tears that had escaped his eyes and rolled down his cheeks moments ago, gave his face a quick massage and looked up only to find Patrick looking back down at him attentively, phone already back in his pocket.

 

“Um… I’m fine now, thanks to you. I’m sorry for trouble…” Yuzuru tried to give Patrick a reassuring smile as he got up slowly to escape the scene. He took a few quick breaths just to make sure he would be okay until he got to his inhaler, tucked away safely in the drawer of the night stand in his dorm room. His hand reached instinctively towards the wall as he started to slowly make his way back.

 

“Wait.”

 

He felt a hand on his shoulder, which was pulled away again quickly. He turned, surprised to be called back, but what surprised him even more was that Patrick looked as if he was actually concerned about him.

 

“At least wait for Tatsuki to get here. He’s bringing your inhaler and he can take you back.”

 

Well, that seemed like a sensible thing to do. And it wasn’t like he didn’t need a hand anyway. He was so tired he didn’t know how or why he was even able to stand right now. He leaned his back against the wall and closed his eyes, ignoring the awkward atmosphere between him and Patrick. _Just for a little while… until Tatsuki comes…_ Until then, he would bear it.

 

~

 

When Yuzuru opened his eyes sluggishly, the first thing he saw was the white curtain. _White curtain…? Oh, right. The medical room in the Japanese building. The asthma attack. Patrick. Patrick?_

 

He looked around for the Canadian, but found his teammate Tatsuki looking at him worriedly instead.

 

“Yuzu, are you okay? How are you feeling?”

 

Yuzuru gave him a smile, assuring his friends that he felt much better.

 

“Seems like you still have a fever. The doctors said it was from the fatigue and stress. The Olympics finally got to you, huh? Oh, congratulations again for your gold medal.”

 

He looked to his right, and saw his gold medal neatly folded and placed on the side table.

 

“Patrick took it off because you were sweating so much and it seemed heavy. I was so surprised when he called me and told me you were having an asthma attack, he sounded so worried. He actually dropped in right before you woke up to check you were doing okay. For some reason, he didn’t want to stay long. He probably hasn’t gone far, want me to go get him?”

 

Yuzuru shook hurriedly shook his head no, which might have strange to his teammate, but Tatsuki only looked confused.

 

“Since when were you guys friends anyway? I never knew you were close with him.”

 

That was the confusing bit for Yuzuru too. Why had Patrick been so nice? Moreover, why had Patrick been so cold to him before?

 

“I… I don’t know.”


End file.
